Liberal Law Professor Fails to Drive Ruth Bader Ginsburg from Supreme Court

Back in April, Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy took to the pages of The New Republic to urge geriatric Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg to get the hell off the bench so President Barack Obama could appoint a couple of progressive whippersnappers in their place before losing his reelection bid in 2012. As Kennedy tactfully put it:

If Ginsburg or Breyer (or both) announced retirement at the end of this Supreme Court term (pending the confirmation of successors), they could virtually guarantee that President Obama would get to select their replacements…. That is why Ginsburg and Breyer need to act soon. If they wait much beyond the end of this Supreme Court term, the Republicans will delay confirmation, praying for an upset in the presidential election.

If Ginsburg and Breyer abjure retirement and Obama wins, the justices' subsequent departures will be relatively harmless. On the other hand, if Obama loses, they will have contributed to a disaster.

Unfortunately for Professor Kennedy, Justice Ginsburg has decided to reject his sage advice. As USA Today's Joan Biskupic reports:

Ginsburg, 78, in response to a question from USA TODAY, said she recently underwent her annual checkup and was in good health.

The eldest of the nine justices, Ginsburg has repeatedly vowed to stay on the bench through the 2012 presidential election and a few years after that. Yet rumors of a possible retirement continue to swirl, because of her past health problems and because of presidential politics….

Ginsburg has said she at least wants to match the tenure of Justice Louis Brandeis, who retired at age 82 in 1939. That would get her to 2015.

Comments

[P Brooks]

Ginsburg has said she at least wants to match the tenure of Justice Louis Brandeis, who retired at age 82 in 1939.

Maybe they left off the part about being interested in faithfully defending the Constitution, as opposed to clinging tenaciously to a plum job.

[Colonel_Angus]

Prunes. Old people eatdrink prune smoothies.

[Mr. FIFY]

But... but... Worf himself said this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdlPaCX3S80

[Red Rocks Rockin]

How come I'm not surprised that a yenta like Ginsberg is only staying on out of some hyper-competitive delusion of inadequacy?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ginsburg hard at work

Cling, bitch. Cling.

[Pro Libertate]

Unmutual! Unmutual!

[rac]

Maybe he'll get lucky and she'll die.

[Pro Libertate]

That's about what this country has come to. To preserve a partisan advantage, some wackos will start offing politicians reluctant to retire for the good of the Partei.

[AlmightyJB]

Pelican Brief was a good movie.

[Pro Libertate]

I vaguely recall the plot. Killing a justice? Not for this reason, surely.

[Suki]

She should have retired when she got mugged, unarmed.

[Major Johnson]

I expect him to pass a new law doubling the pension of any justice who will retire before December.

[mr simple]

they could virtually guarantee that President Obama would get to select their replacements...

How nice of these liberals; they're willing to sacrifice anyone else for the greater good.

[Hugh Akston]

Par for the course.

[Tulpa]

And you can bet if Rehnquist had retired in 2004 to guarantee Bush would appoint his replacement, the liberals would be screaming bloody murder.

[Myron]

Why does Randall Kennedy hate Jews?

[Uncle Joe]

Get off the bench, damn it.
Obama uber alles.

[NASA]

Is there anyone who wouldn't be in favor of a constitutional amendment limiting Supreme Court terms to, say, 30 years?

[Binky]

Nope. I say require Justices to serve until they die.

[Apatheist]

Imagine how political it would get if everybody knew in advance when the next opening was coming. I'm not saying it's a bad idea but there would definitely be negatives.

[rsi]

Give them terms, say seven years, after which they must undergo re-confirmation with maybe a maybe a 50% vote.

I think some of these old farts would quit under that kind pressure.

[Tulpa]

Uh huh. I'm sure they'd be really anxious to overturn the laws passed by the same Congress they have to get confirmed by in a few months.

[WWNGD]

Overturn laws you say? hmmmmmmmm

[Paul]

Ginsburg has said she at least wants to match the tenure of Justice Louis Brandeis, who retired at age 82 in 1939. That would get her to 2015.

Stare decisis FTW!

[RoboCain]

What I would like to know is why does Ruth Bader Ginsburg keep a raw potato on her desk. It's not a fake plastic or ceramic potato as photographs taken over the years show different potatoes, apparently one being replaced by another. What can you do with a raw potato in a law office? It's not even edible.

[Gojira]

Do you really want to know what that potato is being used for?

[RoboCain]

Do you actually know?

[Mr. FIFY]

I'm afraid to know the answer.

[Ice Nine]

What can you do with a raw potato in a law office? It's not even edible.

When did raw potatoes become inedible?

[WWNGD]

They go great with uncooked macaroni.

[Tulpa]

Maybe she's just crazy. It would explain some of her dissents.

[anarch]

It's a common tater.

[Binky]

It's a dick tater.

[Just Dropping By]

Is this some sort of pop culture reference I'm not getting? I can't find anything else on-line mentioning that Ginsburg keeps a potato on her desk, nor can I spot one in any photos of her office.

[P Brooks]

Imagine how political it would get if everybody knew in advance when the next opening was coming.

I'm not opposed to a lottery.

They could wire all the Justices' chair to a giant capacitor wired, in turn, to a random number generator.

Let's say it only had to fire once every ten years.

[Joshua Corning]

I can understand why the left want he off the bench. She is not as terrible on civil liberties as the left would like.

[Joe M]

If they wait much beyond the end of this Supreme Court term, the Republicans will delay confirmation, praying for an upset in the presidential election.

Ha! Obama winning would be the upset now.

[?]

There should definitely be an age limit. More than one of them have been basically senile in the years prior to their death (Rehnquist, I'm looking at you).

[MJ]

"That is why Ginsburg and Breyer need to act soon. If they wait much beyond the end of this Supreme Court term, the Republicans will delay confirmation, praying for an upset in the presidential election."

You know if a Republican is elected, and, say, Scalia retires, Kennedy wou;d consider extremely unfair that he waited till Obama was out of office.

[?]

But they're apolitical though. They said so.

The great thing about a lifetime appointment is that one does not need to hide his hypocrisy.

[Tulpa]

To think, a party filibustering judicial nominees for partisan reasons.

[Mr. FIFY]

Gotta love obstructionism... and how people bitch about it when their Team doesn't hold all the Cards of Power.

[wedding dresses]

It's not a fake plastic or ceramic potato as photographs taken over the years show different potatoes, apparently one being replaced by another.

[Tommy Grand]

Good move by Randall Kennedy writing that op-ed. If one/either SJ justice do/es as he suggests (even if not motivated by his suggestion) Professor Kennedy's prestige grows immensely. If (much more likely) neither retire, he sighs and bemoans that they are obviously well-meaning jurists but fundamentally myopic & a bit too selfish.... caring more about careers than about radical action to defeat the horrible, racist, fascist, teabagger's agenda. Either way he gets plaudit

[Jk]

Ruth Bader Ginzburg died today!!!